UAE | General
Temporary closure of Abu Dhabi Airport wreaks havoc
The Abu Dhabi Airport was closed from 00:10 to 07:45 this morning due to a poor visibility below 50 meters caused by fog conditions, resulting in the delay of 13 flights.
- By Dina El Shammaa, Staff Reporter
- Published: 13:47 October 16, 2008
Abu Dhabi: About 300 passengers have been stranded at Abu Dhabi Airport for over seven hours yesterday, Gulf News Learnt.
Thirteen flights have been either delayed, rescheduled or diverted to other UAE airports because of heavy fog, a senior Abu Dhabi Airport official and passengers told Gulf News.
That has led to discomfort and complaints from passengers, a number of them expressed their displeasure.
The Abu Dhabi Airport was closed from 00:10 to 07:45 this morning due to a poor visibility below 50 meters caused by fog conditions, resulting in the delay of 13 flights.
“Ten of these flights were diverted to Al Ain Airport, one flight through Muscat, one through Sharjah and one through Dubai Airport,'' said a spokesperson from Abu Dhabi Airports Company (ADAC).
The delay resulted in miscommunication between Air India Express and passengers due to fly to India, resulting in over 200 passengers currently stranded in their boarding terminal.
Msn Nair, one of passengers, told Gulf News that the airlines did not inform the passengers of the delay and that they were left ignored for a good 12 hours. “We are still in the airport and left un-aware of anything. No one bothered to update us on our flights situation. We learnt of our flight details through a Gulf News reporter, not through the airlines!''
The manager of Air India and Air India Express in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain, Mr. Lakshmanan, however, confirmed that passengers were informed of the re-scheduled flights (Flights # IX348 flying to Kutch and flight # IX348 fling to Kozhikode) and 80 passengers have already returned to their homes.
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